A model shows the work of Brazilian designer Rodrigo Rooka, 26, during the Gotex New Designer Brazil competition in Sao Paulo on Oct 27. Zhang Fan / China Daily

When Jessica Jin, 25, decided to participate in the first New Designer Brazil competition in Sao Paulo, she never dreamed she would make the final seven, much less win the whole thing.

The competition was held as a part of the Gotex International Fair of Textile Products in Sao Paulo from Oct 27 to 29. Design students from 10 local schools and institutions joined the competition with their works made of fabrics provided by Chinese companies.

"It is awesome to win the competition," said Jin. "I have been doing design for five years and have always wanted to visit China. I will continue to design clothes with oriental elements."

It is the second Gotex Fair in Brazil. About 180 companies from nine countries, including China, Brazil and India, participated in the fair.

"Brazil is strong in areas such as designing and branding while China enjoys a leading place in the fabric industry," said Lin Yunfeng, vice-chairman of the Textile Industry Chamber of Commerce, China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC). "We hope the fair and the competition can be a platform for the two countries to cooperate using their strengths."

China enjoyed the largest share in the global $300 billion textile trade in 2013 while its trade with Brazil in this area only reached $4.1billion last year. China highly values the potential of this market.

"Brazil has a population of 200 million and is the strongest economy in Latin America, with access to most of the regional countries," said Jiang Hui from China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textile and Apparel. "We are quite optimistic of the future of this market though we need to find a better way to develop locally."

Facing competition from Chinese fabric companies, Roberto Chadad, president of the Brazil Association of Clothes (Abravest), said Brazilian companies should work hard to improve their design abilities and brand building in order to achieve a healthier development of the Brazilian textile industry using Chinese fabrics.

fanzhang@chinadailyusa.com